Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Trip Through Marlborough

I thought that I would share some more today about the county where I live. There are loads of tiny villages in Wiltshire that look like they have been taken out of a storybook and then there are bigger towns that have their own identities. And mixed in with all of this, you have lots of sweeping landscapes of green, dotted with sheep grazing on the hills. Even though I have been here a while now, the scenery still regularly captures my imagination. Some of the rural areas remind me of back home and my mind goes back to my childhood, when I enjoying running in the fields and playing. So I am just really enjoying exploring and learning about all that I can here. :)

Yesterday we were out and about and passed through the town of Marlborough, here in Wiltshire. Marlborough is a pretty town and the High Street is one of my favorites. The High Street there is one of the widest around and gives a great view if you stand at one end of the street and look ahead. Apparently it is so wide due to being rebuilt that way after the Great Fire of Marlborough in 1653. It is very picturesque and it’s even prettier during Christmas. There are so many interesting shops and Marlborough is historically rich.

It is situated on the Old Bath Road, which used to be the main road between London and Bath. Marlborough College, a boarding school, is one of the landmarks of the town and was founded in 1843. For any of you royal watchers, Princess Eugenie and also Kate Middleton, have attended school there.

Here are a couple of photos I took of the town as we drove through. The brown building in the foreground of the first photo is the Town Hall. The other photo is a portion of the view down the High Street.





On a personal note, Marlborough is special to Brit Boy and me because that is where he bought my engagement ring a few years ago. I wasn’t with him at the time of course, but he bought it at The Marlborough Jewellers. When we passed by, I think that I read out front that this shop was established in 1776, but don’t hold me to that. :-) Either way, the shop has been there a long time. I don’t have some huge sparkler of an engagement ring, and that kind of stuff has never mattered to me. I have a beautiful ring though and I love it because Brit Boy gave it to me. It’s also romantic to me that it came from a very traditional little shop with a long history, in a pretty little town. :-)

14 comments:

Mia Celeste said...

Wow, Marlborough sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing the pictures and descriptions.

Sara said...

Must be so exciting to see the country and learn about new places!

Dori said...

Brenda nd,
Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad that you enjoyed the pics. :)

Sara,
Yeah, it's cool to visit new places or revisit some of my favorites. :)

Anonymous said...

It just seems so peaceful and beautiful there. Thanks for another history lesson. :-)

Unknown said...

How great to read this lovely description.

It brought back some memories.
Thanks!

Have a great weekend!

Ivanhoe said...

Oh, how I miss Europe *sigh*. Your pics make it better though :o)
Stop by when you have a minute. I have some bling-bling for you at my place.

Dori said...

Jacqueline,
It is beautiful here in Wiltshire. We got another bonus sunny day here today, so I got outside and enjoyed it. :)

Laane,
I'm so glad that you enjoyed my descriptions and that this brought back some memories for you. :-)

Ivanhoe,
I'm glad that I can alleviate some of your homesickness for this side of the world. I will continue from time to time to post more of those kinds of pics. :)

Jewelry Rockstar said...

That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing. It's nice when little things remind you of great events in your life.

The Silver Age Sara said...

Oh, it's so beautiful, just like something out of a story book and to think you live there. You are very fortunate.
I loved the story about your ring coming from a beautiful shop in a beautiful village.

Elizabeth Harper said...

I read your blog to John yesterday and we had a interesting conversation about rings...Hmmm!

I loved your description of Marlborough. John kept trying to correct my pronunciation though. It seems like many words, I wasn't saying it the English way.

Lisa @ Serah's said...

Thanks for stopping by. Beautiful story and pictures! I've always wanted to live in another country just for a little while for the experience. Now I can live vicariously through you. :)

Dori said...

Jewelry Rockstar,
You are right. I think that the beauty of life is often found in the little things. :)

Mountain Woman,
I do find that I look around myself more now and do my best to take all the beauty in. When I first got here, I was depressed over my mom passing, but now I am at a point where the beauty is getting in and it is thrilling. I'm so glad you enjoyed my story. :)

Elizabeth,
I hope the ring conversation turned out good. ;-) I do know what you mean about pronunciations here. LOL. I have now gotten to the point where I say it both ways and say "slash" between both ways for a laugh when it is just me and Brit Boy. :)

Serahs,
I'm so glad you stopped by to visit me too. :) I love sharing my experiences here with everyone, so I will love having you come along with me and share the ride. :) Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Dori I believe I mentioned my friend lives in Marlborough and I visited her early this year. I'm going there again since she just delivered a baby, and yes, Marlborough is tiny yet very gorgeous town. Scotland is gorgeous but there's something about Wiltshire, it's romantically beautiful! :)

Dori said...

Finally Woken,
You know what I mean about Marlborough then...it is lovely and quaint. And you are right, sometimes I am just overwhelmed by Wiltshire's beauty. Gazing out across the land just takes my breath away. :-)